CSPA has responded to recent stories in the press about “gold-plated” Civil Service pensions as media myths. Articles have appeared in the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail, highlighting the pensions of a few Permanent Secretaries to create an impression of Civil Servants being among the “pensions aristocracy”. In fact, the average Civil Service pension is £9,784 a year, and for women it is only £7,502 a year in 2023, even after last April`s 10.1% inflation uplift!

CSPA General Secretary Sally Tsoukaris commented, “We must dispel these media myths of gold-plated pensions in the Civil Service. The facts are somewhat different, and many retired Civil Servants are struggling with the cost of living, being reliant on their State Pension, currently only payable from the age of 66 (set to increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028), to supplement their Civil Service pension. We want our members to thrive – and not just survive – in retirement, after a lifetime of work paying towards their pensions”.